Re: EMC vs. Galil Motion card (was: Will emc work for me?)

[cbsled-at-ncia.net]

On 07/06/02, at 01:50 PM, Ray Henry <rehenry-at-up.net> said:

> The cost/benefit over starting from scratch would depend upon 
>the Galil language.

The manuals for Galil cards are available online:
http://www.galilmc.com/literature/manuals.html
The "Command Reference" section is available separately for each card family.

I cannot say how my Windows software works. All I know is that I give it a G-code file, it makes a binary *.obj file from that, and that is what it runs, >not< the G-code. I have tried looking at an *.obj file with a hex editor, but it was still garbage, no Galil commands to be found.


>We might be 
>able to write a new extended wish shell like emcsh that would communicate 
>with the Galil.  The advantage of that is that we could retain the present 
>look and feel and keep the Galil stuff current with further development of 
>that gui if that is important.

That sounds like a good idea. Keep the whole setup as a branch or subset of emc.

>We could also write a tickle script that would serve as a setup program for 
>the Galil card.

The card is set up using commands. I believe that some settings are held in NVRAM, but even these can be changed with a single command. The Windows control software that I have uses a plain text parameter file. It loads all the params into the card every time the program is started. The Galil Windows software has a "terminal", where you just type the commands in and it sends them to the card and receives output from the card, so I think the communication with the card is pretty simple. I do not have Linux on the machine yet, so I have not tested the Galil software for Linux.

The Windows control software uses a gui. 
To replace it and Windows, as I understand it, I would need:

1) Linux installed on the machine, obviously.

2) The Galil drivers for Linux.

3) A replacement for the gui, with all the home, jog, backplot, editing, etc... functionality, built to send Galil commands.

4) A G-code interpreter built to output Galil commands.

I would not need:

1) Real-time extensions for Linux.

2) EMCMOT.

OR:

1) Ditch the Galil card.
2) Install a DAC.
3)Upgrade the computer? (It's a p166)
3) Use emc as is.

Do I have it right?

-- 
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Carl Brown cbsled-at-ncia.net
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When there's no plan, there's one less thing to go wrong.
    -Joe Redington Sr.
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